Halo: Hero's Return
by Bioniclefan234
Summary: Follow the Master Chief as he fights the Alliance, Sentinels, and Flood, with the help of his long-lost SPARTAN comrades...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Chief...Chief, can you hear me?_

Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN John-117 shifted in his cryo-tube as a memory washed over him.

_I thought I'd lost you, too._

Why was he remembering? He couldn't be...when one went into cryo-sleep, they didn't think...they didn't age...they didn't do anything.

_What happened?_

_I'm not sure. When Halo fired, it shook itself to pieces. Did a number on the Ark. The Portal couldn't sustain itself. We made it through just as it collapsed. _

Chief tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn't. That's when he noticed that something had him pinned.

_Well, some of us made it. _

But if he could feel, it meant that he was awake. Good; that meant he wasn't dead yet.

_But you did it. Truth and the Covenant...the Flood...it's finished. _

_It's finished. _

But what had him pinned? It felt metal and yet fleshy at the same time.

_I'll drop a beacon...but it'll be a while before anyone finds us. Years, even. _

John reached up and, using the strength of his MJONIR armor, he shoved off the object and finally managed to open his eyes. As his armor went through a routine check-up, John looked up and saw the metal of the _Forward Unto Dawn _twisted and ruined.

_I'll miss you. _

_Wake me...when you need me._

Oh yes, and the metal was covered with Flood biomass.

**Well, this is the Prologue of **_**Hero's Return, **_**a Halo fanfic I have planned for months. This basically depicts the continued adventures of the Master Chief after **_**Halo 3.**_** Orignally I intended this to be called **_**Past and Present, **_**but **_**Hero's Return **_**seemed better. I know this isn't much for a prologue, but, well, it's way better than the one I had originally intended. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Ten years...ten long years since the Ark. Humanity and the Elites were getting along well since then, even though the Brutes kept raiding their colonies and outposts. The Elites were currently blockading the Brute homeworld, threatening to burn it if the Brutes did not stop their assaults.

_But do we really have the heart to do it? _Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee thought. _Can we really kill millions of innocents for the survival of out race?_

Then he winced when he remembered that he, along with every other member of the Covenant, had tried to wipe out humanity for over thirty years. He remembered the scorn his kind had faced whenever they visited Earth for diplomatic reasons. He remembered the shouts and threats of attack whenever a human saw an Elite.

_The human government may be trying to unify our races, _Arbiter thought, _but I don't blame the humans for what they are doing._

He walked into the bridge of his personal supercarrier, the _Indigenous Justice. _The Elites on duty immediately saluted their superior before returning to their duties. As the Arbiter sat down in the command chair, one Elite, an officer named Vara 'Kalamee, stepped forward, saluted the Arbiter, and awaited the permission to speak. Formally an Honor Guard for the late Prophet of Regret, 'Kalamee had survived John's attack on the Prophet and had retreated to the Covenant carrier _Bold Hate_. There, he had helped repel the Brutes and a stray carrier form during the battle over Delta Halo.

"Speak, 'Kalamee," Thel said.

"Yes, Excellency," Vara responded, bowing his head in respect. "We have detected a faint distress beacon about a hundred light years from here. It is human in origin, with a very...unique code."

"Explain," Arbiter ordered.

"We do not recognize it from any other distress beacon we have received," Vara answered. "It seems...as though it were trying to actually speak to us."

"Transmit it to my panel," 'Vadamee ordered.

"Yes, Excellency," Vara replied, turning to a younger Elite and given him an order. The younger Elite nodded, touched a few codes on his panel, and the Arbiter watched as his own personal panel flared to life with the beacon. Thel read it over a few times before clicking his mandibles with shock.

"What is it, Arbiter?" Vara asked.

"It cannot be..." Arbiter murmured. He looked up at 'Kalamee and ordered, "Plot a course for the origin of this beacon. We're going to track down this signal."

"Why?" Vara asked. "Our orders are to remain here, to assist in the supervision of the blockade."

"I'll deal with the Imperial Command, officer," Thel replied. "We are to follow my orders."

Vara hesistated, as though he wanted to further the argument, but nodded and turned to the pilots. As Vara gave the necessary orders, the Arbiter leaned back in his seat and thought, _So...you survived. I should not be surprised; after all, your construct once said that you were "the luckiest bastard in the whole UNSC." _

-Line-

The Brute Chieftain known as Valukus stood before a large window on board his ship, the _Forced Obedience,_ that showed him a view of the burning Elite colony of "Nhevl." He had no idea what Nhevl meant to the split-chin vermin, nor did he care. All that mattered was the death of the Elites and the humans.

A Brute Zealot approached, pausing only to marvel at the spectacular view offered by the window, before reporting. "Sir, we have an inbound transmission. Coming from three hundred light years from this position."

"Name?" Velukus asked without turning to face the Zealot.

"He wouldn't give it."

Velukus paused, then said, "Order the transmission to be sent here."

"Yes, Excellency," the Zealot answered, bowing his head before leaving.

Velukus waited a few moments, then heard a chime from the console beside him. He pressed in his acceptance code, then watched as the hologram flared to life before him.

Had he been carrying anything, Velukus would have dropped it right there.

The one who had contacted him was a San 'Shyuum (or Prophet, as the humans liked to call them), a species that had gone into hiding after the Human/Covenant War. He knelt before the hologram as the Prophet said, "Greetings, Chieftain."

"Noble Prophet," Velukus replied, "Why are you here? Are you going to help destroy the Elites and Humans?"

"No, not yet," the Prophet answered. "We have more pressing matters."

"Such as?" Velukus asked, surprised that anything could be more important than the extermination of the Humans and Elites.

"I have recently found long-buried information in the Covenant Archives," the Prophet answered. "It was retrieved by the Prophet of Regret before his untimely death. It details a 'Death World,' which had nearly as much power as Halo."

"And you want me to secure it," Velukus finished for him.

"Exactly," the Prophet said. "You are in control of one of the largest Jiralhanae forces. You are still loyal to the ways of the Covenant. You are the best one we have in securing this World for our arrival. Will you accept this challenge?"

Already anticipating the fights ahead, Velukus smiled and said, "Of course, Noble One."

"Then the brethren of San 'Shyuum and Jiralhanae lives again," the Prophet said. "But, since so many have abandoned us, we are no longer the Covenant. We are now the Alliance of Two Faiths."

An hour later, the large fleet of Covenant ships left orbit and prepared to launch.

It was going to be a glorious, if short, battle ahead.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The Chief carefully rounded a corner, his assault rifle aimed ahead. He scanned the area, found no sign of enemies, and crept forward. Ever since he had awakened, he had found no sign of the Flood nor Cortana, which worried him. He knew that the Flood tended to strike out at the most inconvenient of times, and Cortana...well, she was already captured once by the Flood. He dreaded at the thought of what would happen if she was captured yet again.

He paused, ducked behind a shard of the wall, and looked around. Still nothing.

John rose and walked forward. He knew that the Flood was on board; their filthy biomass was everywhere, and every few moments, the slithery, liquid sounds of infection forms would pass.

He rounded a bend, and immediately caught sight of about twenty-no, thirty-infection forms racing around the hall. Chief tossed a grenade, killed most of them, and mopped up the rest. He moved along, listening for any other sides of the Flood and checking his motion tracker. Nothing moved, and nothing made a sound.

That wasn't good.

It probably meant the Flood was waiting for him, waiting for a chance to strike him down and turn him into one of them. But he wasn't about to give them the pleasure of killing them.

He passed through the hatch, scanned the area, and pressed on. Members of the UNSC would probably say that he was being needlessly cautious, that he should relax and proceed to...where ever it was he was headed.

Those members would probably end up infected within four, maybe five seconds.

Truth was, Chief had no idea where he was heading. Half of the ship-along with the bridge-was gone when the Portal sheared it in half. He had no idea of where he was, what year it was, or anything else.

He turned a corner and immediately came face-to-visor with another bipedal being. Not taking any chances, and not having any time to observe the figure's features, the Spartan attacked.

-Line-

Earth...a beautiful sphere of blue and green. The homeworld of the humans. The center of the UNSC.

Or at least, it was.

Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck swore as he dove under the swing of a Brute's fist. He had been planning to retire, preferably somewhere nice, but then the insurrectionists had to come and screw up his plans. _Then _the Brutes started causing trouble, wiping out colonies of Humans and Elites.

Now the ape-like sons of bitches had attacked Earth. _Earth_. Why here? Why now? 

Buck didn't dwell on these thoughts as the Brute kicked the ODST in the chest, sending him sliding across the ground, his MA5C Assault weapon skidding away. Giving a throaty chuckle, the Brute pulled out his spiker and aimed it at the trooper's head. Buck growled and was about to snap something at his would-be executioner when something grabbed the Brute from behind. The alien howled in rage, trying to throw off the attacker, but a combat knife was driven into the Brute's neck. It grunted, slumped forward, and died. Standing above him, with a satisfied smirk behind the depolarized helmet, was Commander Veronica Dare.

"Need some help?" she asked, extending her hand.

"I can get up myself, thanks," Buck replied, rising to his feet.

Veronica shrugged, and instead proceeded to remove the knife from the Brute's neck. Buck recovered his gun and asked, "Is there any new progress on the battle?"

She shook her head. "Brute ships have plowed through the orbital defenses and are moving on our position. These bastards," she said, kicking the Brute in the arm, "were an advanced scouting party. We have large amounts of Phantoms inbound."

"What about the Elites? Aren't they going to help?"

"They _said _that new reinforcements would arriving soon," Veronica answered, "but I have yet to see any Elites anywhere."

Buck sighed. "I guess that we're going to be in our own graves by the time those bastards get here." 

Veronica shrugged. "Well, we can't do anything about it. Let's go."

They turned as one to end up facing a window that offered a view of the space battle. Human technology had greatly improved since the Elites and Humans had begun an alliance, but they still couldn't face the tech the Brutes possessed.

That was why the MAC gun of the orbital defense station the two ODSTs were stationed at could kill only a few shielded Phantoms that were flying toward them.

"Well, this is going to be interesting," Buck said, hefting his gun. Veronica nodded.

Suddenly, one of the Phantoms blew apart. Several more followed suit, but none of them had been killed by the MAC gun.

"Look!" Veronica pointed to a shape that flew past. It was a Covenant carrier, but not like the ones the Brutes were flying, if only to the extent of different insignias.

This carrier had the mark of the Elites.

"Well, what do you know?" Buck said. "They actually came through for us." 

"_Attention all Humans!_" an Elite's voice rang through the speakers. "_We are the Warriors of Defense! The Brutes are preparing to retreat, and we are here to take volunteers on an expedition to track them. If you wish to help, board a dropship-either Human or Elite, as we have Phantoms ready to pick up troops-and head to _Masked Dependence, _the supercarrier on the far side of the planet, where the fighting was worse."_

Buck looked over at Veronica, fully intending to make a pun about this, but found the Commander already gone.

"Well damn!" Buck muttered, racing to the airpad. 


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After a few minutes of fighting, the Master Chief finally pinned his attacker against the wall. The attacker was a great fighter, and didn't seem restricted by the large armor he seemed to wear. It wasn't until Chief got a good look at his opponent that he realized who he had met.

"Douglas?" John said in disbelief. "I thought you were dead."

Douglas-042 chuckled. "Well, here I am."

"But how? You disappeared after the _Spirit of Fire _went after a Covenant cruiser."

"Well, it's sort of a long story. I'll tell you when you get the hell out of here. Alice and Jerome are waiting outside with a Warthog."

John hesitated, then nodded. As they headed for the exit, John asked, "Why did you come here?"

"We detected a faint distress beacon and took a Warthog to investigate." 

"Do you know why there's so much Flood mass here?"

Douglas blinked in confusion, then sighed and said, "In a way, I do. Come on." 

They walked in silence, eyes searching for any hint of the Flood. Strangely enough, nothing seemed to be jumping out at them, no movement jumping around on their motion trackers. During this, Douglas explained how the Flood still existed.

"You see, after the _Spirit _ended up here, there were already spores in several sections of the ship. After we crashed during an engagement with those things, the spores spread out, and these drones came out of nowhere to combat them. We abandoned the ship, holed up in a strange structure with anything we could salvage, and eventually detected your signal. It took a while to fight through the spreading monsters and drones."

Chief nodded. "And they ended up here."

"Actually, no. The drones and monsters stopped appearing after a while. The biomass was here long before we arrived."

"But that doesn't make sense."

"Nothing does."

They rounded a corner and encountered two Spartans struggling to close a door, with gunfire firing about them. John and Douglas moved in, firing past the Spartans to whatever laid behind the doorway. One Spartan-Alice, John realized-nodded to them before resuming her effort to pry away the mass covering the door controls. John looked to see multiple combat and infection forms in the hallway beyond. He fired at the closest combat form, blew off its right arm and chest, and destroyed a bunch of infection forms.

Finally, Alice peeled away the last of the biomass to reveal the door controls destroyed. She punched the wall in anger and cursed.

Douglas tossed a frag grenade, watched as it killed a bunch of infection forms, and killed two combat forms. He gestured behind the four Spartans, snapping, "Fall back!"

They raced from the door, killed several pursuing infection forms, and rounded the corner to find three carrier forms waddling toward them. The Spartans pressed their backs to the wall and fired whatever weapons they had as the Flood pressed their attack. Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the Flood gave up the attack, the corpses of their companions covering the floor. John dropped the empty assault rifle and picked up a battle rifle and magnum.

"Now what?" John asked.

Douglas rounded on Jerome and Alice and asked, "What happened?" 

"We were outside, guarding the area, when a group of freaks on Mongooses and a couple of Warthogs fired at us. We were forced to retreat inside, where a large group of freaks had already snuck in before and ambushed us."

Douglas nodded grimly. "Then the drones can't be far behind."

"Looks like we got another fight on our hands," Jerome added, hefting his shotgun. He looked over at John and added, "Long time no see, my friend." 

Alice looked over at John and nodded at him before adding, "We should get out of here before the freaks and drones start their fighting." 

"Agreed," Douglas said. "Let's go. I think I know of another way out of here."

-Line-

_They move about, waiting for the inevitable._

It shifted its head to stare upward. Inside a large Brute supercarrier, its mass covered the entire chamber in which it resided. It had learned of something built long ago...something the Forerunners had hoped to use against their enemies.

_But they should know..._

It unfurled its tentacles as it sensed the close proximity of their destination, where other Brute ships were already closing in, the Elites and Humans not far behind.

_...the grave is always waiting. It speaks in silence, in solitude, waiting for others to join it in its peace. _

It sensed Flood forms fighting against Sentinels and a dwindling number of Humans.

_It greets with open arms, beckoning to those it awaits. _

The creature swung its massive head to look to the right, where, through the metal of the walls, corpses were feasted upon. The surviving Brutes fought a losing battle against the creature's minions.

_The Forerunners thought we could be defeated, tamed like wild beasts. _

_But we cannot. _

_We are not animals._

_We are the Flood. _

The creature-the Gravemind-had been waiting for revival for many years after its defeat on the Ark. The Brutes had tried to take control of a Forerunner relic on a planet towards the edge of the galaxy, but had inadvertently unleashed the Flood upon them. The Flood took control of the ships in orbit, and all but two had been destroyed. Those two were now speeding away toward the "Death World" based on information the Prophets accidentally sent them since they believed the ships to still be held by Brutes.

_Now the tables have turned. Corpses have shifted, and fortunes have changed. This Death World shall decide whether the Flood will control life or will perish. _

_This is our Judgment. This is our Final Battle. _

-Line-

Pelicans and Phantoms were loaded with troops and shipped off to the Elite ships, alongside vehicles, weapons, and aircraft. Every space station and ship was a scene of activity.

Edward Buck was just about to board a Pelican when a hand settled on his shoulder. The soldier turned to see the visor of a Spartan.

"I believe this Pelican is full," the Spartan said with a strange accent as he boarded. Buck rolled his eyes, counted the seats available, and found one open.

He sat down, turned to the Spartan that sat across from him, and asked, "And who are you?" 

"My Spartan identity is all that is important. You can call me Spartan-A266."

"Whatever, Mr. A266." The doors to the Pelican closed as the dropship lifted off from the airpad and into space, where the pilot had to maneuver past the floating wreckage left over from the battle. Buck sighed, wondering if he was ever going to come back to this planet...or anything, really. Where were the Brutes heading that was so important that they had to abandon Earth?

Buck wasn't sure he liked the answer.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Captain, wake up! Something has happened!" 

Blinking sleep from his eyes, Captain James Cutter rose from the cryo-tube and saw the ship's AI, Serina, flare to life on a holopanel. There was panic in her eyes, something that he hadn't seen from her in years, not since...

_Oh God, not that. Not the things._

"Report," Cutter ordered as he placed his Captain's uniform on, along with his sidearm.

"You remember the specimens we sent up here for examination from the shield world, right? Well, after the specimens were burned, they became mounds of flesh. I detected spores entering the ship's atmosphere as the mounds were ejected into space. At the time, I thought that the air filters would take care of them. But things have turned horrible in the past five years you've been asleep." 

She took a deep breath as a burst of static crossed the screen. "Well, I mostly had the spores taken care of, but a few of the 'skeleton crew' we left stationed after the rest went to sleep inhaled the remaining spores and became combat forms. They attacked the remaining crew as the spores began replicating, and soon we lost 1/12th of the ship. I sealed them away, using filters and a few weapons emplacements to exterminate the escapees. For about a year, the situation remained under control. Then the things broke out, destroyed the weapons, and I was forced to awaken the Marines.

"They fought well, but slowly, the monsters pushed us back until half the ship was lost. Once again, I managed to seal them away, this time barely.

"However, I soon was contacted by a creature called 'the Gravemind,' who tried to convince me to unleash the monsters. I refused it, and as such, my files and systems slowly were terminated. I finally summoned the Spartans, whom fought against the creatures and killed the Gravemind with heavy weapons. The creatures were pushed back and we regained control of most of the ship once again.

"However, a week ago, my containment efforts failed, and the things were unleashed again." This time, about 20% of the crew is infected, and the remainder are scattered."

"What about Professor Anders?" Cutter asked, referring to the beautiful scientist that had come aboard the _Spirit of Fire _to investigate the mysterious structure on Harvest, which led to a lot of crazy shit.

"She's still aboard, with a Spartan guarding her in her lab. The monsters are moving in on her location, though."

"We need to terminate that threat."

"Sorry, sir, but we don't have another sun to blow up." 

Cutter, in spite of the grim situation, smirked and replied, "Alright, why did you wake me up?"

Serina opened her mouth the reply when the screen flickered and died. Cutter was about to turn it back on when it did so by itself, and the screen was filled with withering tentacles made of corpse-flesh. A voice spoke, sounding as though it was put together by many different voices.

"I am the grave, and you are the corpse. I control most of this ship, little meal. Do not attempt to resist."

"Who are you?" Cutter demanded, drawing his magnum.

"I? I am a monument to all your sins."

With that, strange slithery sounds filled Cutter's ears, and he turned to see forty small, round infection forms speeding toward him, followed closely by four carrier forms. Cutter raised his magnum and fired, taking out most of the infection forms. He loaded a clip into a carrier form, watched it explode, and cursed as more infection forms emerged from the flesh and sped toward him.

He fired, killed more infection forms, and was in the process of reloading when an infection form jumped up, latched onto his body, and sent a tendril through Cutter's skin. He cried out, dropped the pistol, and fell to the ground as the form slipped into his body. As he felt himself losing control of his body, Cutter heard gunfire and explosions, and the monster on the screen say, "And you are my new child."

-Line-

Jerome burst in, having been sent by Serina. Douglas was busy moving in on the Gravemind's position, and Alice was guarding Anders, leaving Douglas to save the Captain. He fired and killed the carriers, and tossed two grenades to kill the infection forms.

He raced over to Cutter just in time to watch as his body jerked around, biomass growing on his skin. The former Captain looked imploringly into Jerome's visor before his eyes shut, and he screamed in pain.

Jerome raised his SMG, aimed it at the Captain as two tentacles burst from under his arm, and fired.

It took half of the magazine to put the Captain down, but he did it. The Captain looked up at Jerome, but when he spoke, it was the voice of the Gravemind.

"This ship is mine. This ship shall be your grave, and when it is, you shall know that I am in complete control. Know that I—argh!"

The Captain's corpse fell silent, and Jerome knew that Douglas had been successful in destroying the beast. _But at what cost?_

-Line-

After the monsters were driven back, the funeral was held for the Captain—albeit a heavily-armed one, since no one could trust the ship anymore. Everyone, even the scientist and engineers, had a gun.

"What now?" a crewman asked. "Those things have killed the Captain, they created that mind thing twice, and they're still on the ship."

"I am doing everything I can," Serina answered.

"You're not doing enough!" the crewman snarled. "Perhaps I should..."

The rest of what he said was lost, as a plasma bolt struck the back of his head and killed him. As he slumped to the ground, several heavily-armed Elites stalked in, glaring at each of the present Humans. They all drew their weapons, but even more Covenant troops stormed in, outnumbering the crew. Finally, they were surrounded.

The lead Elite Zealot glanced at another one of its kind and said, "Quarantine the ship. Neutralize the Parasite before we rejoin with the _Forced Obedience._" To the Humans, the Elite said, "You are all now prisoners of the Covenant Empire. You are to be relieved of your weapons, show no resistance, and maybe some of you will live long enough to see your homeworld burned to the ground."

The captives glanced at each other before dropping their weapons. Several Grunts began gathering them as binds were secured around their wrists.

"Take them to the ship," the Zealot ordered, turning around. "And remember to kill the Parasite."

As the captives were taken to the Covenant ship that they noticed floating outside the ship, Serina pondered how the Covenant ship could have gotten so close without her knowing. She guessed that the Gravemind must have deleted her ability to interact with her long-ranged sensors years before.

But that wasn't going to stop her. She sensed the monsters already engaging the Covenant. She could use the distraction to rescue the soldiers and maybe damage the Covenant vessel.

She accessed the turrets she had long disused after biomass damaged their targeting systems. Now it didn't matter; Covenant soldiers were swarming through the ship liked the monsters they fought. Starting with the rear end of the ship, she fired and kill multiple Elites, Jackals, and Grunts. Likewise, several yards away, an Elite and dozens of infection and combat forms fell under fire.

She repeated this process throughout the ship until she was satisfied. With most of the enemies dead, she focused her attention on the captive humans. Using turret fire from the one she had in that area, several Covenant troops died, forcing the remainder into cover, which allowed several soldiers to grab plasma weapons and kill the remainder.

"Now what?" a Marine asked.

"Now," Jerome replied, "we fight." 

-Line-

"We spent several hours clearing the ship of Covenant soldiers before Serina managed to find a weak point in the ship above us. She fired a MAC round and crippled the ship, allowing us to escape as the Covenant did the same. We were safe."

John nodded slowly before asking, "What of the Flood?"

Jerome frowned. "Unfortunately, it left us with a lot of bodies. We could only eject a few into space before the Flood regrouped and infected those bodies. The battle grew a hell of a lot worse, especially after Serina went rampant."

The four Spartans were going through the remainder of the ship's spine, trying to make their way to the vehicle depot John and Douglas hoped was located there. Jerome was relating everything that had happened after Arcadia to John.

"She lost interest in us, and even began assisting those things-the Flood-in destroying us. We barely survived. In exchange, we learned that Serina was being taught many things about the universe."

Jerome sighed. "In the end, we were forced to destroy Serina. We managed to trick her by using the escape pods, then implanted a virus while she was distracted to destroy her systems."

"And then?"

"We did what we always did: fight. By the time we crashed here, about five years ago, only about five Marines, us, a few of the crew, and Anders were all that was left."

John nodded. "I'm sorry. But you must of put up a hell of a fight; the Flood have never been beaten back like that before."

Jerome nodded. "Yes sir, we did."

Alice suddenly stopped. "Um, guys? Things are getting worse."

Jerome and the other Spartans looked up to see a Covenant supercarrier floating in the atmosphere above the planet. They all gasped as it fired its glassing beam.

"Is it destroying this place?" Alice wondered.

John shook his head. "No. This is just them saying 'We're here.'"

**All right, to clarify things, if you really think about it, it would be next-to-impossible for the soldiers on board the **_**Spirit of Fire **_**to survive decades on the ship with the Flood hammering at them. Especially since they could end up low on ammo and such. In order to rectify this, I'll leave it up to you to use your imagination to figure this out. Maybe I'll do a contest so readers can solve this mystery themselves, I don't know... **


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Velukus watched as his fleet began to surround the Death World. He had summoned assistance from across the galaxy, and the Brute High Command had authorized this mission after learning that the Prophets were involved. Elites and Humans were in pursuit, yes, but they would be dealt with. The army Velukus had summoned was over five hundred ships strong, far stronger than any fleet since the _High Charity's _own fleet.

The Chieftain stood on the bridge, looking down at the metal planet before him. He allowed himself one moment to marvel at how the Forerunners could build such an amazing structure before resuming his uncaring personality.

"What's down there?" he asked.

One of the Brutes in charge of scanning the planet reported, "Large amounts of Forerunner technology on the surface. There appears to be a small amount of Human filth down there, as well as a growing number of Flood."

Velukus turned his shocked gaze at the Brute, along with a few others. "Did you say 'Flood?'" the Chieftain asked.

The Brute nodded solemnly. Velukus sighed and sat down in the Captain's chair, running a hand down his face. Humans were simple to deal with. Sentinels and other Forerunner defense robots were merely a nuisance. The Flood? They were a different story altogether.

"What is their main location?"

Silence, then, "A human ship located near this world's equator."

Velukus stroked his beard before saying, "Send in a reconnaissance force, three dozen strong, heavily armed. I want a report on the capabilities of the Flood."

"Yes, Excellency," the Brute replied before sending a command to Jiralhanae Ultra Unit Neralus to dispatch the force their commander required.

About an hour later, several Phantoms detached themselves from the _Forced Obedience_ and flew toward the planet surface.

The Brute in command, known as Neralus, was a veteran of the war against the Humans and well-respected among the army. During the Great Schism, he deployed tactics that destroyed an Elite supercarrier and saved a Brute cruiser from being consumed by the Parasite.

That Brute turned to the troops standing in the Phantom and said, "My brothers, we have been sent to fight the Parasite, the same beasts that fought and defeated the Forerunners. But are we to cower like the Unggoy, or will we fight and destroy these creatures?"

The Brutes roared as one, "We will fight!"

"Yes! We will crush this Parasite to the ground and make it wish it never invaded this galaxy!"

The Jiralhanae roared their approval as the Phantoms lowered onto the ground, the side-doors opening. Two Brutes took up positions on the plasma turrets and gazed upon the world they were descending upon.

It was completely made of steel, with structures dotting the landscape. A steel wall rose from the ground some miles away. Neralus looked out the Phantom door and saw multiple spires rising out of the ground, creating a maze.

"_We'll have to fly past those spires in order to reach our destination,_" the pilot reported.

"What is the destination?" a Brute asked.

"_An infested area not far from here. We are going to see how the Parasite have survived so long, destroy them, and report back to the Chieftain."_

Neralus hefted his Brute Shot. "Then let's get a move on!"

The Brutes roared in agreement, and the Phantoms shot forward.

-Line-

John hurridly led the other three Spartans down the spine towards what he hoped was the vehicle depot. His battle rifle was in his hands, and every so often, he would glance at the holes above them, hoping that the Covenant ship wouldn't send troops here.

"How much farther?" Alice asked.

"Hopefully not far. We need to..."

Without warning, several carrier forms appeared from the shadows nearby, spotted the soldiers, and waddled toward them. Behind them trailed several combat forms, one of which wielded a rocket launcher.

"Shit!" Jerome cursed as the combat form fired. The Spartans rolled out of the way as it struck the area they were just at and detonated. Jerome checked his shields and saw that half of them were gone.

John fired his battle rifle, hit the rocket launcher-wielding combat form, and shot its infection form, dropping it to the ground. Douglas immediately tossed a grenade at them, sending the carrier forms flying through the air and killing a few more combat forms. The carriers detonated upon hitting the ground, spewing out their infection form contents. The last two combat forms—one who wielded a magnum—attacked them, the weapon fired at Alice. The infection forms charged at the Spartans, and they fired every which way. Infection forms popped, combat forms growled, and John listened to Jerome curse every few seconds.

Eventually, the last combat form dropped to the ground, and Douglas walked up to it, glare at the once-human, and stomped it flat.

"Let's move," John said. "We don't know what else lurks here." 

Jerome nodded. "Let's go."

The four Spartans raced further down, meeting only a few Flood forms here and there. Nothing too dangerous.

Eventually, the Spartans came across the vehicle depot, where it was guarded by multiple Flood forms, one which was controlling a tank.

"Oh, great," Jerome muttered.

"What do we do?" Alice asked.

John was silent for a few moments. He had yet to find or make any sort of contact with Cortana. Perhaps she was gone. Perhaps she was trapped somewhere.

Whatever the case, he still had to get off the ship and make contact with the few friendly forces left on the planet. He grabbed a grenade and said, "You three, make a distraction. I'm going in."

-Line-

The ships pulled away from Earth, loaded with Humans and Elites alike. One of them, Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee stood facing a screen, where Admiral Duke Vanit glared at him.

"You have no permission to be using my own soldiers for your own crap, Arbiter." 

"This is necessary. Your Command gave me clearance to use your-"

"Screw Command, this is Earth. We need to defend it, to keep it safe."

"But this could turn the tide of our conflict with the Brutes. We need to investigate it."

"Then use your damn Elites! Leave us to fight the Brutes. I've never liked your kind, anyway."

"This mission has no room for personal feelings, Admiral. And you cannot disobey your Command."

"Whatever argument you presented to them does not apply to me! Send back my troops and leave!"

"I cannot. We need all the help we can get."

"By sacrificing my own troops? Why don't you just crawl back to your homeworld before I blow the shit out of you?"

Thel sighed. This human was being uncooperative, and they were losing the trail of the Brutes with each wasted second.

"I have the authority to use these soldiers," the Arbiter said to the fuming Admiral. "I will try to return as many as I can save when this is over. Goodbye."

The Arbiter flipped a switch, and the screen went dark. He turned to the Elites gathered around him and ordered, "Move it! We have fallen behind our foes, and we need to track them down. Get the ships moving!"

The Elites all sprung into action. As the ship began to leave orbit, several Human vessels moved in toward them. The screen flared back to life, the face of the Admiral filling it with a smirk. "I will be accompanying you on this voyage, Arbiter."

"Very well. You are authorized to dock on the carrier known as _Haunted Emotion. _I will have several Spirits to fly you there."

Duke nodded at him, but his eyes betrayed his hatred for the Elites. The screen turned dark, and an Elite officer asked, "Is it wise to drag him into this?"

"Perhaps not. But I'd rather not go through another argument with him."

**Okay, I saw the teaser trailer for the upcoming Halo 4, and I already see my story contradicts it. Shame. **

**Ninja named Steve: Actually, according to Halopedia, Serina is a smart AI. She just focuses more on military than anything else. **


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Hey, you ugly sons of bitches!"

The Flood turned to see three green-armored humans standing nearby. One of them was waving his hands in the air, making his presence known. The tank they were in control of rose its barrel toward them.

"Try and catch us!" a human shouted before tossing a grenade in their midst, killing three of them and blowing off the arm of another, followed shortly by the three humans running off. Several combat forms moved in to attack them, and a fourth human slipped unnoticed to the back of the tank. He mounted it and shoved a grenade into its back.

The remaining combat forms turned at the sound of an explosion and saw-or rather, sensed-the tank gone. The screeched as the Master Chief fired his battle rifle, taking down two combat forms before they responded.

The other Spartans turned and attacked, firing their weapons, shooting down the combat forms. One tried to escape, but was disintegrated by a punch from Douglas.

Once the area was secured, the Spartans searched the depot for a vehicle that could contain all four humans. Ever so often, Jerome would glance up at a hole in the wall and hope the orbiting ship wouldn't say "we're here" over them.

Without warning, a Phantom flew overhead, followed by two more. One settled over the depot and deployed two, then four, then eight Brutes...eight more than what Jerome would have wanted to meet.

"Brutes!" he shouted, firing his shotgun at them, to little effect.

The other three Spartans turned, spotted their foes, and opened fire. The Brutes responded with their own weapons, forcing Jerome to duck behind a Warthog. However, a Brute Shot round sent the 'Hog flying through the air, taking Jerome with it. As he landed hard on the ground, he checked his HUD and found his shields and health in the red.

_Shit_, Jerome thought as he picked up a fallen MA5B from a dead combat form and fired the last 24 rounds in the clip at a Brute, whose power armor weakened but did not fail. It roared at the Spartan, aimed its plasma repeater at him, and fired. Jerome dodged most of the blasts, but one caught him in the shoulder and sent him to the floor, crying out as he did.

The Brute, sensing the weakening of its opponent, moved in close, keeping the plasma repeater in hand even as it drew out a blade from its shoulder armor. The Spartan laid unmoving, his back to the Brute, not even moving as the alien knelt down and raised the blade, ready to kill. Just as it was about to stab Jerome, the Spartan turned around and buried his combat knife in the Brute's neck. The Brute groaned, glaring its hatred at the Spartan, before it slumped to the ground and saw nothing else. Jerome, panting, picked up his knife, put it away, and reloaded his assault rifle. He allowed his shields to recharge, then charged back into the fight.

-Line-

The Gravemind sensed the ship slowing down, and knew that the Flood were at their destination. The last of the uninfected Brutes were down, and now there was even more food present. The Gravemind chuckled before it sensed the the Brute ships contacting his own. It grunted in disgust and ordered the Flood to begin moving the ships to the surface, to send full power to the shields, and to prepare for feasting.

It accepted the call of the ship, the Forced Obedience, and a large screen present in the chamber flared to life. The face of a Brute Chieftain filled the aforementioned screen, and it began saying, "Welcome, brothers, to the fight against the growing Parasite. We are to...to..."

"Greetings, Brute," the Gravemind said simply.

The Brute snarled. "Parasite! Prepare to fire weapons. All hands to their stations!"

"It will be a wasted effort, Brute," the Gravemind said as the Chieftain ceased communication. To the Flood, it echoed, _Move! We will not last long unless we touch down on the surface!  
><em>

The ship began moving as fast as it could, the infected pilots making sure there was a proper amount of energy flowing between the shields and engines. The first plasma torpedoes struck the ship's starboard side, damaging the shields. The ship endured them, but the Gravemind knew that they would not last a long bombardment.

_Shift more power to the engines! We must make haste!  
><em>

The ship lurched forward as some shield energy was drained and transferred into the engines. The torpedoes continued their assault, but with the ship moving faster, the slow-witted Brute gunners were unable to properly aim, and some sailed past the ship.

However, the second Flood ship, lacking the sort of competence present in the forms in the Gravemind's ship, took the full brunt of the missed shots. One scored a hit on the engines, damaging them. The Gravemind sensed several Brute ships descend hungrily on this strip of prey and ordered the crippled Flood ship to dispatch carrier forms and spread the infection.

The hull of the ship was now descending on the Death World's outer atmosphere, and the Gravemind ordered the proper atmosphere descent protocols to be ignored and make more speed in order to reach the surface. The Flood pilots, lacking their own intelligence, obeyed, and by the time the Brutes fired their glassing beams at the ship's engines, it was already mostly swallowed by the atmosphere. However, one engine was struck, and the ship went spiraling out of control.

But it did not bother the Gravemind. Sure, it might be destroyed on impact, but now the Flood had arrived, and it would be rebuilt.

What mattered was that the Flood were now ready to begin again. And with the Array now reduced by one-seventh of its power, and the Ark gone, nothing could stop it.

Nothing.

-Line-

The last Brute fell dead at the feet of John as he looked up to see the Gravemind's ship descending on the planet. He did not know of the latter's presence upon it, but recognized the status of the ship to be infected.

"What is that?" Alice wondered.

"The beasts," John whispered. "The Flood. More have arrived." 

The other Spartans looked at him in shock. "How is that possible?"

John opened his mouth to explain, but then a voice behind him said, "I shall tell you all...but I wish I did not have to."

John began to turn to face this new speaker, but several golden rings of light encircled him, and he knew that he was being teleported.

His last thought before he fully teleported away was, _And here I thought I was free of Forerunner crap._


End file.
